Working Thesis: In union with Christ and under His lordship, preachers become agents through whom Christ speaks to those who hear in faith.
This project will interact with the work of Luther, Calvin, Adams, Litfin, Knowles, Pasquarello, Stout, Vanhoozer, Wingren, and others to explore the significance of Christology for the theology of preaching. The thesis is a development of Calvin and Luther’s view that “Christ acts by His ministers in such a manner that He wishes their mouth to be reckoned as His mouth, and their lips as His lips.” (Calvin, Isaiah 11:4, 381; CO 36/CR 64.240.). The structure for the supporting analysis and argument will be the Christological categories of Person (deity, humanity, incarnation) and Work (particularly the offices of prophet, priest, and king, possibly also atonement), the soteriological category of union with Christ, and the ecclesiological category of elders (as bond-servants of Christ and stewards of Christ’s household). Together, these will provide substance of a robust Christ-centered argument that in Christian preaching, hearers encounter the Risen Lord.